Gaming Tactics and Product Recommendations

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Monthly Archives: May 2015

Bastion. Bastion is a game with beautiful art and music. Each realm is hand painted and crafted to artistic perfection. The gameplay is refreshing, and every new weapon and ability is exciting to mix into your gameplay. The plot isn’t bad either, pay attention and it pays off in the end.

Limbo. Limbo is kind of a spooky game. The game designers went with a relatively minimalistic art style, which they claimed helps the gamer focus on the gameplay. It is a puzzle platform game, with your typical up down right left two dimensional controls.

Don’t Starve: Reign of Giants. An action-adventure video game with elements of stealth and survival. Keep Wilson alive as he stays himself from getting eaten by a variety of supernatural beasts. And trust me, there are like a billion ways to die in this game. It actually is one of the defining elements of Don’t Starve, it makes dying more fun.

Plague Inc. Welcome to the business of deadly pathogens. You as the player create a nasty pathogen to take out the rest of the world. The game is essentially an epidemic simulator. This game has over 25 million players so there’s something to be said for that.

Braid. Braid is another platform puzzle game. Seeing a trend here? The cool spin in Braid is that you have time control capabilities. This game long last became the highest reviewed game on xBox live. You’ll need to stomp through 6 worlds that each contain their own time warping mechanics.

Faster Than Light. Faster than Light (FTL) is a real time strategy game with a top down view. You control one spacecraft in a get away type scenario and guide it through numerous sectors of space. You must clear the way past hostile forces and hold on for dear life. Subset 7. Games the developer got stuck part way through development of the game because of lack of finances. They turned to Kickstarter and received 20 times more than their initial goal.

Machinarium. This is a quirky and fun indie game.. but you’ll need to enjoy the adventure genre to truly get your money’s worth. It has many brain teasers throughout and without a guide you could get stuck from time to time. The rewarding part is when you do get it right, you get to unlock another beautiful part of the game.

Super Meat Boy. This puzzle game is ruthlessly unforgiving. Retro artwork and smashing music compliment this fast paced platformer. Also the controls are wonderfully precise, but this also makes for challenging levels as you have to sneak through some tight spots. As Meatboy, your mission is to rescue Bandage Girl. Easier said than done.

The Binding of Isaac. This game falls more under the category of dungeon crawler. The plot line is lined with some Biblical elements, which can be quite humorous when examined from the right perspective. You fight through 9 floors culminating in a battle against Satan himself.

Streaming has become all the rage these days and its been said more people are tuning into streams than some television channels or sporting events like major league baseball games. Some people think it’s bad for gaming for whatever reasons but I think it’s a great way to get gaming more mainstream. Also, people that get really good at certain games finally have a way to monetize their skill. Just like a hobbyist woodworker that starts building furniture for people, a gamer can share their skills and knowledge with other people. Sure there’s always the trolls and goof balls on Twitch chats but it can provide entertainment outside of the viewing experience. I’d also counter where are there not trolls on the internet? In the end I still like the chat box because it’s a way the streamer can interact with their audience. Isn’t that what we want popular people in our niche’s to be? More human and easier to communicate with and ask questions. A lot of sports stars seem larger than life but really they are just another one of us. I think streaming on Twitch gives a great look into the personality and lives of eSports stars and other popular personalities.

If you are interested in streaming, there is a lot of software out there that can get you started. I’d suggest OBS just because it is opensource and pretty intuitive as well. I think the best way to get started is commit to a schedule, interact with your viewers, be good at your game, have a good gaming rig, have a good gaming setup, and have a good Twitch profile and page so people can learn about you. I think supplementing this with a social media strategy will get you going on the right foot. Also, so many times I see streamers with webcams set up and the area behind them is a mess. Try and stay somewhat professional and don’t let their be distractions for your viewers.

Hello Everyone. If you are visiting this site with the intention of downloading the game Tow Bowl Tactics, you are no longer in luck. You can find more information and download it here. This site will be taking on a new direction and much of our content will be based on current Opensource games that have large active user bases. We also will talk about new gaming equipment and technology. Some of our articles will also examine the developing electronic phenomenon of eSports and what impacts it will have on the gaming industry and the future of PC gaming.

We are pretty excited about the new Steam OS and honestly, PC gaming looks to be on the brink of a long lasting golden age. With the entry of SteamOS (based on the rock solid architecture of Linux), gamers finally will have an alternative to Microsoft’s Windows. Maybe you like Windows, maybe you hate it. The fact of the matter is competition will help drive innovation and the end result will be better for us all. Steam’s library of opensource games has really jump started the possibilities for indie developers. The possibilities of having a free opensource platform running on a free opensource operating system are endless. Once this becomes reality, I think we will continue to see a rising number of indie projects and the quality of games created will rise over the coming years. Projects will likely get larger, ideas will get greater, and projects that are special enough may even give established game studios a run for their money.

If your a simulator fan, now is the right time to upgrade your joystick or driving wheel. This site Fly Away Simulation has flight simmers covered from top to bottom. Here I’ll link the 5 best joysticks article which I feel does an awesome job summing up all the best joysticks. But this site is more than just reviewing joysticks. It is a comprehensive flight simulator and pilot enthusiast site. Beware of getting sucked in and spending 4+ hours there. These joysticks range from $40 all the way up to $500 dollars so its a good idea to education yourself and pick out the right one.Headphones are a hot item right now especially on Amazon. You can get a nice headset for $19.99 from Sennheiser here. It’s not going to be audiophile quality, but its a hell of a lot better than any pack in headphones/headsets you may still be using. There are also Bose headphones and a variety of other brands that are heavily discounted.Again, you must check out the Steam Sale. It continues until January second at 10AM pst with featured daily deals every day. For indie lovers such as myself, my game of the day recommendation is The Escapists, a strategy simulation game. Its normal price is $15 but its marked off 50% down to 7.50. It is a prison simulator and your mission is.. you guessed it, to escape. While it sounds simple on the surface you can tell a lot of thought has gone into the game and it is quite enjoyable. 94% of the 1300 reviews rated it an overwhelmingly positive experience.

1. Steam Holiday Sale. Obviously if your a fan of indie games this is one of the first places you should stop this holiday season. They have some huge bundles where you can get multiple titles for a greatly reduced cost. If you’re looking for just 1 or 2 games that you’ve heard good things about, chances are they will either be on sale for the next few weeks or you’ll be able to get a reduced price during a single sale day.
2. Gaming Chairs are 40% off at Amazon until January First. These are the best gaming chairs for console gamers hands down. They have bluetooth speakers built into the headrest. The ergonomic design and padded headrest and arms are great for long gaming sessions with your friends. If you are trying to find a good overview of pc gaming chairs this site has a gaming chair article. There is also this complementary gaming desks article on their site.
3. G502 Proteus Core mouse by Logitech. If you call yourself a gamer, you’re probably upgrading your mouse at least once every 2 years. Outside of your gaming rig your mouse is probably the singlemost important part of your gaming arsenal. You need the precision of a gaming mouse or else you will suffer the fate of misclicks and frustration. This new mouse from Logitech has it all. 11 programmable buttons, max 12,000 dpi, adjustable weight and balance, and a bonus it looks like a futuristic weapon.
4. What comes after the mouse? You guessed it, keyboards. This sweet from keyboard guide Maximum PC does a pretty good job summing up some of the best options. My recommendation? Get a CoolerMaster keyboard. When your shopping for a gaming keyboard, what you really should be looking to buy is a mechanical keyboard because of the tactile superiority of the keyboard switches. That’s exactly what Cooler Master delivers, straight forward keyboards built from premium components.
5. If you are looking for a Gaming Rig and would rather not build your own I’d recommend ibuypower or cybertron. Both make really solid rigs and don’t markup the prices too much. You only need to spend around $800 these days to get a rig that will play most games at max settings. Combine that with a $200 monitor and you are good to go for 2015. This site Gaming Build has a good overview of the options: Gaming Rigs Reviews.